Teen Idols And Happy Meals

Gingerbread And Goddesses

Nikki’s POV

Jacen Sage was the only thing anybody could talk about.  In the week since his disappearance, his fame had skyrocketed to new heights, the likes of which the world had never seen before. Every magazine, every newspaper, every talk show was running the story. If you googled News the first five hits would be about Jacen.

Before he’d been a star, now he was a god. And I was his goddess.

“It’s ten after eight here in Glenview, Pennsylvania as day seven of the search for Jacen begins. Volunteers have taken over the town here in search of the young star, while road blocks have been set up at every major highway out of the state. The whole world seems to have stopped for Jacen Sage.”

I scowled at the TV from where I stood, hovering in the corner like a bat. Sitting just wasn’t an option for me, these days. Nervous energy had invaded my body like a parasite, infecting me with anxiety like a vicious disease. I had to be in motion, constantly.

“You said they’d be here at eight,” I muttered darkly, my booted foot tapping frantically against the polished mahogany floors of Jacen’s posh living room.

“The Sages come of their own accord,” Odette formed her sentences in the stiff manner I had come to recognize as standard in her. “Nobody else’s.” That was all that seemed to remain of the old Odette. Gone was the dragon lady, the woman with the high necked dresses and a stare capable of making a grown man eat his vegetables. Gone was Odette.

All that remained was this shell, who sat on the couch for hours on end, her arms gripping her elbows like she was afraid that if she let go, she’d fall apart at the seams. She stayed in her pajamas from noon ‘til night, and her hair had seen much better days. But then again, so had Odette.

“Well they better be here soon,” I threatened, as if Odette had control over the matter. “I’m not going to just sit around here all day – wasting time. Not when I could be out there – looking for Jacen.”

I hadn’t gone to school for the past week. I don’t think anybody expected me to. The school didn’t seem to be looking for me, and if they were, my parents never brought it up. Not that they’d had much of a chance. I was hardly home these days – dividing my precious time between taking care of Odette and searching for Jacen.

Neither had procured any promising results. There was still no sign of Jacen, and Odette barely slept. Even Rajah seemed depressed, and maybe a little chubby. I wondered if dogs could stress eat.

“You should leave the search to the police,” Odette said finally. Her pause had been so long I hadn’t been expecting her to say anything. “Jacen wouldn’t want you wandering out in the woods.”

“Jacen wouldn’t want any of this,” I retorted harshly. “But he doesn’t get a choice.” I swung my glare to the window opposite me, where I could see a pristine limo pulling up outside the door, next to the dry fountain. “But I do. And I choose Jacen. I’m not giving up on him.”

“Neither am I,” Odette said. Her dark eyes were puffy, even when she wasn’t crying. She seemed to perpetually be on the brink of bursting into tears.

“No, but you are giving up on yourself,” I snapped as I bleakly watched the limo’s occupants exit in a swirl of fur and Italian leather. Scowling, I looked to Odette, but her blank, blood shot eyes were on the TV. “Just think about that.”

There was a knock at the door, a simple formality it seemed, as the door swung open half a beat later to reveal the forms of Sandra and Marcus Sage, Jacen’s parents, for biological purposes, at least.